Products are typically shipped to retailers in bulk by enclosing multiple individual product units in a container, such as a carton or box. For example, canned foods may be shipped to a retailer in a box containing twenty-four individual cans. Then, it is typically the retailer's obligation to remove the individual product units from the container and present them (e.g., on a shelf) to consumers.
Alternatives to the traditional package-ship-unpack-display model are being developed in an effort to improve operating efficiency. For example, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/777,444 filed on May 11, 2010, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, discloses a new system for dispensing and displaying products packaged in a container. Specifically, the system includes a frame having a support structure, a product display area and an opening tool. The frame may be positioned on a retailer's shelf and loaded with product simply by placing a container comprising multiple units of product onto the support structure of the frame. As the container is being placed onto the support structure, the opening tool of the frame opens the container in such a manner that product rolls from the container and down to the product display area of the frame under the force of gravity.
Many products are not symmetrical along their rolling axis and, therefore, do not roll in a straight line. For example, the canned food product 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes a circumferential side wall 12 having a first end 14 and a second end 16, wherein the second end 16 is sealed with a chime 18. Therefore, the second end 16 of the canned food product 10 extends further outward from the rolling axis A (by a distance D) than the first end 14 (i.e., the second end 16 has a greater radius than the first end 14), resulting in the canned food product 10 rolling in a nonlinear path B.
Unfortunately, the dispensing systems mentioned above have been known to jam when a dispensed product fails to travel in a straight line. Such jams may occur within the container or as the product transitions from the container to the frame, thereby inhibiting the consumer's ability to retrieve the product.
Accordingly, those skilled in the art continue with research and development efforts directed to apparatus and systems for dispensing products from packaging containers.